Chapter 37: Hieth
Prince Hieth sat at his desk as he read through documents his father had sent. Two attempts had failed at overtaking these men standing between the empire and Riemskin. The Royal family grew tired of failure, so Heith had requested to be sent. Hezel fled while Nazrod had been executed. Hieth read through the reports from his scouts, pausing as he leaned back in his chair. "Machines that match dragons in flight." He took notes, looking at his advisor. "Tell the dragons we will no longer use them." Hieth called out cruelly. The advisor paused, shock on his face while the prince stood up, leaning over the man’s desk. "Do. Not. Ever. Question. Me. Are we clear?" He paused, as if comparing mental notes. "Their ’prices’ are becoming obscene. My father has blessed off on cutting ties with those creatures." Sitting back down, the prince looked at a different document. "If they resist, use the ’Brios’ to level one of their mountain-tops."
A soldier walked into the room, kneeling before looking at the ground. "Permission to speak, highness?" The man asked gently. Hieth reclined in his chair while crossing his arms. "You may stand, give your report." The guard paused to stand. "Sire!" He said, standing at attention. "Approximately four clicks away, the scouts report seeing what they believe is a staging area. It is near the Riel Ravine." He said, saluting while looking at Hieth.
"Very well. You may go."
Hieth sat back in his desk, folding his arms on the desk as the guard left. He thought back to what his father had told him about the machines the enemy used. "steel frames. We can target those wastrels. "How many rounds did we bring for the Brios?" He asked his advisor. The advisor checked his notes before responding. "Sire, we brought six." The prince nodded. "Get rid of that staging area. Show these otherworld soldiers that we can erase terrain as easily as they can." He then remembered reading about ’mobile cannons’ in the report from Hezel. "Send in the Llathrels as well. It is time to test our own mobile canons Tell the men to engage and fall back. There is no reason to prolong this engagement further than it needs to be." He growled before walking out of the tent.
At the battalion command tent, Eric and Mia walk into the briefing room. The room was quiet as Mia began handing documents out. She sat where Eric normally sat, and looked at Milano. "Good afternoon, Ladies and Gentlemen. My name is Mia Dryer. You have asked for information I may have about the empire. The news I have does not bode well." She sighed before continuing. "That large explosion from earlier was likely the Empire using their ’Brios’ Cannon. If you will refer to page three of the document, a more defined explanation of the weapon is outlined." She paused as pages were turned. "From what we could gather after it’s previous uses, it likely uses compressive air and the magic spell ’fireball’ to unleash city killing rounds. Attached to that report are pictures of settlements the weapon has been used on." She said while Eric read the report she was referring to. "Different world, same shit should be my life mantra." He thought to himself as he looked at the carnage.
"So their Brios is to them what our B2 is to us." Eric said softly. He meant to think it, but he accidentally said it out loud. The tent went silent.
Suddenly, a Sergeant Fist Class ran into the room. "Sir! Urgent report! The Buc-ees...It’s gone." Milano smirked as he looked at his senior leaders and Eric. "The plan worked."
Turning to Mia, Milano nodded as he sifted through the report she handed out. "Thank you, Mrs. Dryer." He said, meeting her eyes. He read through the report as he looked around at the men and women assembled. "How many of the new excalibur rounds do we have?" He asked, setting the documents down. The artillery commander checked his notes before answering. "We have enough for one volley, with ten volleys of standard ammunition, and two additional volleys of the refitted standard ammunition." Milano stood up as he looked at the mountains in the background. "Do we know where this Empire echelon is stationed at?" He said, developing ideas for each answer he could receive. "Yes sir." The S2 OIC answered. "ISR located their camp after they launched that round from earlier.
"Alright, here is what we will do." Milano said as he looked around. I want staggered paladins each firing three hundred yards from each other. Each round should come within five minutes of each other. I doubt they will charge in like the last two iterations have done. This unit seems more organized." He looked at the last pictures that a drone had captured. "Mrs. Dryer, do you know what that crest is?"
Mia’s eyes widen as she looked at the picture. "Yes." She responded in a somber tone. "That is the insignia of First Prince Heith. He is known as the ’serpent strategist.’ She groaned while leaning back in her chair. "We will need to tread carefully, Commander. The prince rarely shows his true cards."
Milano nodded at her response. "So it would seem." He mused. "Ready the apaches." He commands. "Tell them they have one mission. Get rid of that cannon." He then turned to the fire’s commander, "Your orders remain the same." A slight pause followed as notes were jotted, each commander drawing up an OPLAN to follow the commander’s intent. "Tank and Mech companies are to remain on over watch. ISR, put those birds in the air, keep them near Hood Hill. Thermal and visual scans are to be ran as often as possible. Crew served weapons and .50 cal teams, you are to dig in on top of the walls covering each cardinal direction.
He then turned to Eric. "Can you handle a mission, Dryer?"
Eric squeezed Mia’s shoulders as he nodded to Milano. "Tell me what to do, sir. I will get it done."